Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Pitt (Exhibition) on October 19, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.
Men's Basketball
at Pitt (Exhibition)
2:00 p.m.
Providence College Athletics
Friday, December 21
Austin, TX
9:00 P.M.
Providence College
10-3
71
at
65
Texas
7-4
1
2
F
Providence
39
32
71
Texas
34
31
65
Men’s Basketball Defeats Texas For First Win In Program History At Texas, 71-65
12/21/2018 11:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Providence College men's basketball team defeated the University of Texas, 71-65, at the Frank Erwin Center for the team's first win ever at Texas and its first win against the Longhorns since Dec. 31, 1996. Providence improved to 10-3, including 2-0 in road games, heading into BIG EAST play against Creighton on Monday, Dec. 31. The last time Providence faced Texas, P.J. Tucker hit a finger-roll layup to carry Texas over Providence 79-77 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in overtime (79-77) on January 5, 2004.
Junior Alpha Diallo (New York, N.Y.) scored a game-high 20 points and added six rebounds in the win. He made multiple clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
The Friars focused on limiting perimeter shots in the opening minutes, forcing Texas to drive where Providence was in position for the help defense. The Longhorns shot 0-4 before Head Coach Shaka Smart brought in three players off the bench at the 16:25 mark. Providence's defense held Texas to just 44 percent (12-27) from the field in the first half and 38 percent in the game.
David Duke (Providence, R.I.) crossed over at the top of the key before hitting a deep two to get the Friars on the board. Maliek White (Richmond, Va.) followed that up by leaking in transition and delivering a bounce pass to Jimmy Nichols, Jr. (Conway, S.C.) for the finish. Kalif Young (Vaughan, Ontario) added a jumper on the baseline. Providence held an 8-2 lead at the first media timeout (15:10), shooting 4-6 from the field.
White joined in on the scoring out of the timeout, he knocked down a wing three followed by a pullup jumper off a curl. He scored seven consecutive points for the Friars to give them a 15-10 lead with 12:05 left in the half. White made his third-consecutive start for the injured Reeves after recording a career-high 33 minutes last game against Albany. White contributed nine points on 4-11 shooting and added five assists.
The Friars used a 10-2 run to increase their lead to 27-19 with 7:36 left in the first half. Jaxson Hayes committed a technical foul that started the run. Drew Edwards (Perry Hall, Md.) knocked down the two technical free throws before Makai-Ashton Langford (Worcester, Mass.) went coast-to-coast in transition. Senior Isaiah Jackson (Gainesville, Fla.) knocked down back-to-back threes to give the Friars a 27-19 lead.
The Longhorns outscored Providence 15-12 in the latter portion of the half, heading to the locker room with a score of 39-34 in favor of the Friars.
Diallo led the team with 10 points in the half while he got to the charity stripe seven times, converting four. Jackson contributed eight points including two three-point baskets. Providence turned the ball over just four times compared to seven for the Longhorns.
Jackson finished with 12 points on an efficient shooting night, he shot 5-9 from the field and 2-4 from three-point territory.
Texas mixed in a full-court press that caused problems for the Providence offense to open the second half, they cut the lead to four before White silenced the crowd with an up and under reverse layup. Providence led 47-42 after Nate Watson knocked down one of two free throws out of the first media timeout (15:56). Head Coach Ed Cooley implemented a two-three zone after accumulating six fouls in just five minutes to open the half.
Providence scored back-to-back baskets in the paint after Isaiah Jackson took Dylan Osetkowski off the dribble for a layup, followed by a Duke drive that he dished off to Young for the finish. Jaxson Hayes answered with an and-one layup followed by a Matt Coleman three to cut the Providence lead to just one, 51-50.
Duke provided one of his three assists to Diallo off a curl with 10:50 left to play. Diallo converted a crucial and-one to give the Friars a 55-50 lead after the missed free throw.
Both teams struggled through a 4:13 scoring draught before Nichols, Jr. found Watson for an easy layup which gave the Friars a 57-50 lead with 7:40 left to play.
Providence held a 57-52 lead before Ashton-Langford hit one of the biggest shots of the game, a deep trey from the top of the key with 6:24 remaining.
Texas cut the lead to two, 64-62, with 1:51 remaining after Dylan Osetkowski hit a three-pointer from the left corner followed by a layup for Elijah Mitrou-Long. Diallo got fouled on a drive and converted one of two free throws to give them a 65-62 lead.
Diallo missed a layup on the following possession after a scramble at mid-court, Watson cleaned it up to give the Friars a 67-62 lead. Texas tried for a quick basket, but Jackson cut off the pass and threw the ball behind his back to Ashton-Langford before he fell out of bounds to seal the win.
Kalif Young led the Friars on the boards with a team-high eight rebounds.
Matt Coleman III and Jaxson Hayes led the Longhorns with 13 points apiece.
Providence assisted on 15 of their 26 baskets compared to just eight assists for Texas.
Up next, Providence will take on Creighton in their BIG EAST opener on Monday, Dec. 31 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center at 4:00 p.m. The game will be live on FS1 or you can listen to it on WPRO 630AM.
-GO FRIARS-
Team Stats
PC
UT
FG%
.456
.377
3FG%
.385
.250
FT%
.636
.565
RB
38
32
TO
12
9
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Pts
20
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
9
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
Guard
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Guard
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Forward
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